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Sunday, December 30

I really can't believe another year has come to an end. Amazing how it seems to start off so slow, but then Halloween to New Years is such a blur! I wanted to take a moment to look back on some of my favorite projects that I've created over the past 12 months. You can click the picture to go to the original post. :)

Favorite Card

Favorite MiniI'm sharing this one with ABAC's year in reviewdesign team project! Click the pic to go to theoriginal post to see the full series of inside pictures!

Saturday, December 29

This month at Frosted Designs they decided to break from their normal set of challenges to try a 12 days of Christmas fun! Each day they gave us a different supply that we had to use in that quantity on our layout. I worked my way down to the last day and now I'm ready to share.

Wednesday, December 26

I had several people email me and ask if I was going to share the fun that Buddy, our Elf on the Shelf had with us this year. For those that follow me on Twitter (the link is in the about me tab above), there were daily updates. I still wanted to post them all in a single place. :) Our elf got into a little mischief, had a lot of fun, and even left us several sweet gifts. The kids miss him, but hopefully he'll be back next year....as long as they still believe!!! :)

Day 1: Buddy created a hot wheels traffic jam!

Day 2: Played a game of Scrabble using all wintery words.

Day 3: He left us seeds that when planted in sugar became cookie pops.*

Day 4: Yes, he really took EVERY pillow in the house to create his mountain.

Day 5: Teepeeing the entire living room, not cool Buddy!

Day 6: Katie was at a sleepover so Buddy made himself at home in her bed.

Day 7: Recreated the North Pole Village with Little People.

Day 8: Catching up on his fav winter sports with ESPN.com and SportsCenter.

Day 9: How thoughtful, a new ornament frame...with a self portrait. HEE HEE

Day 10: Taking very good care of Baby Doll Anabelle.

Day 11: He made some additions to Mommy's grocery list...sugar anyone???

Day 12: He left the kids their "Official Elf Reports". *

Day 13: We woke up to a donut delivery, complete with a Buddy sized one! *

Day 14: Crepe paper across all of their bedroom doors.

Day 15: Having a little too much fun with the copier.

Day 16: Guarding the presents.

Day 17: Playing in the girl's BLING.

Day 18: Scaling the cabinets to his hidden stash of candy.

Day 19: Counting down to Christmas...TEN DAYS!!!

Day 20: Jammin' to Daddy's tunes.

Day 21: We found Buddy in the car with Christmas tunes on BLAST.

Day 22: He brought the kids some of their favorite candy canes.

Day 23: A note to say "Hi".

Day 24: He must have been worried about missing his ride home.

Day 25: Trying to get out to play in our first snow.

Day 26: Fine tuning his Super Mario Bros skills.

Day 27: Tower of cookies!

Day 28: He left us a new movie to watch on Christmas Eve and a goodbye letter.*

*On Day 2 there was a wrapped baggy of seeds (mini M&Ms) left next to his Scrabble game. We planted them in sugar and woke up the next morning to cookie pops. Learn from my trial and BIG OL' ERROR....put the sticks in before you bake. :)

*Here is the 'Official Elf Report' Buddy left on Day 12. I downloaded and then made some changes in my paint program to change the year (though I found after she'd posted a 2012 version as well) and to make the checked items things that were important to us and I changed to columns to say Naughty, Nice and Close Call. Also I didn't want them to think this was it for them, so at the bottom they say Nice List PENDING rather than deciding between naughty or nice. CLICK HERE to see the original which is a free download and make the changes that work for you or you can right click and save my version if you wish.

*The Buddy sized donut is simply a cheerio that is frosted with a powdered sugar/water paste and sprinkles!

*I thought the goodbye letter was very important. One of my kiddos asked how come they would get on the naughty list for making a mess like that, but when Buddy does it we laugh. So I made sure to explain his mischief in the letter. I know the original idea for Elf on the Shelf was simply to provide Santa's eyes and ears in each house to help kiddos remember to behave, but our elf has fun each night when he is 'alive'. To me, getting to see my kids faces each morning race through the house searching for Buddy and lighting up when they see what he's done now is a way to extend the magic of Christmas all month long. For the letter I just opened Microsoft Word (I'm sure many programs have this capability too, but this came free on my computer) and added a watermark picture of Buddy really faded out. Here is the text from our letter from Buddy:

Dear ________________,

I have really enjoyed being your elf the past two years and I am so glad that you adopted me so that I can come back each year to see how much you have grown. I know I am supposed to just sit on a shelf somewhere and watch quietly so that I can report back to Santa if you have been naughty or nice, but when I see how much fun you all have playing with each other, it makes me wish I could play with you too! So sometimes when I get a little bored at night, I play with your things and pretend I am playing with you.

You guys were so good this year, but if you could try just a little harder next year that would be great. I don't like seeing Santa get cross when I have to tell him that you have been fighting or not doing what your parents ask sometimes and there were a few times I was really worried Santa was going to move you to the Naughty List.

I know you have a quiet Christmas Eve planned and I wanted to help you make it a special evening. So when you are making cookies for Santa (make sure you leave an extra one for me to munch on during my trip back north), brew some hot cocoa and watch this movie together as a family.

Saturday, December 22

I have been hoarding this Echo Park paper collection for months. It's called 'For the Record 2' and it's filled with some of my favorite color combos ever! I'd been saving them for JUST the right project, but when my step-mommy dearest asked for me to make her a new set of 'just because' cards for Christmas... I knew they were just perfect for her!! Hopefully she's too busy working retail in the busiest season of the year to keep up on my bloggy because I just can't wait to share!

Sunday, December 16

Six weeks....that's how long it's been since I blogged last. What would you know...that's exactly how long it takes to heal from a broken foot....coincidence?? Not so much! :( Luckily I didn't have to be in a full cast, just a special little foot boot contraption, and I could even walk on it with minor pain (after about the first 10 days or so), but sitting at my scrappy table was just about the only thing I managed to do that left me with throbbing pain, so I've had to take a short crafty hiatus. And a non-scrappin' mama is not a happy mama for sure!!! But I've been back at it a week or so and I'm ready to get caught up on all the fun holiday layouts and projects I have planned and that will surely be created over the next month.

First up is the current installment of Anything But a Card challenge blog, where our DT leader was sweet enough to give me a few weeks off to recoup. Our challenge running right now is 'Celebrating the Light' or 'Seasonal Holiday'....your choice. I went with a set of Christmas tags that I'll be giving as a gift soon. Hopefully said recievee does not follow my blog....haha! Thanks for looking and make sure you click over to see the rest of week two's creations.

The Fine Print

All work is my own unless otherwise stated. I make every effort to link to the original inspiration whenever possible. All work is Copyright 2008-2014 by Christina Willman-Skinner. Feel free to use any of my sketches or ideas for personal use. I would so very appreciate a link to my work if you use it as inspiration...especially for a contest, challenge or publication. Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you have a fabulous day!!